Editorial

Malta is among a small number of EU member states that have not yet enacted a law specifically aimed at protecting children against harmful content in video games. Although the island does have general legal provisions in place, the European Commission pointed out recently that Malta does not require the use of a labelling system known as Pan European Games Information (PEGI), which is in place in 20 other EU countries. This industry- and EU-backed system provides purchasers of video games with an age rating and warns of content such as violence, bad language and sex.

Now a cursory look through the shelves of a DVD shop will reveal that most games, having been imported, do in fact carry such labels. However, there is no obligation on the part of the seller to be guided by them when making a sale to minors. In video rental outlets, which tend to stock older versions of games that may not carry PEGI-type labels and which often remove the original disc packaging, a child is virtually free to walk in and rent the most violent video game available, aware of it or not.

This is a worrisome situation, especially as computer games have become such a widespread form of entertainment among young people. There is as yet no firm scientific evidence of a direct link to violent behaviour but a school shooting incident last November in Finland, in which an 18-year-old killed nine people, fuelled further public concern after being attributed to the influence of violent game play.

While there must have been other, perhaps more crucial psychological factors involved in that shooting spree, the effects of watching or "committing" repetitive violence in interactive games may be more subtle but equally insidious. The fear is not so much that a child will try to emulate the games' villains (or equally violent heroes for that matter) but that his/her fragile, developing morality becomes warped by the "normality" of it all.

Video games can be educational, and, at least, some benefits - such as promoting quicker thinking - can be touted for many of them. But the more violent ones can be seen as part of an assault on peaceable society.

In this battle for the minds of their children, one of the aids parents most need is the right information, of which the PEGI system is a good example. The government would do well not only to make it legally enforcable but to urge video game outlets to bring it to customers' attention.

Social agencies and schools, perhaps via parenting skills courses, have an important part to play too. Parents need to learn not just about how to control violent and sexual content but also about areas such as managing the amount of time their children spend at the console, the dangers of addiction, media education, levels of supervision appropriate to age, the teaching of responsibility.

As there is no sure way to stop older children from coming in contact with unsavoury electronic material, the most parents can do is to become more knowledgeable, try to lay down some rules and model value-led behaviour in their own lives. Decent parents, in the main, beget decent children.